Victoria Warner It's been excruciatingly hot here lately. 11 cms of rain in the month of June, compared to a norm of almost 56 cms average rainfall in this month. It's hard to keep,special plants alive, now that we are in stage 2 watering. That means permission for two hours of watering, twice per week. My days are Thursday and Sunday. I fill up a watering can in between, just to spot water some of the more needy plants.
The best thing is, the lawn has finally all gone, the turf dug up and cast out. You can't really use it, as it is such a carrier of wireworms, and it takes forever to compost. So it will become fill for some enterprising developer, just like the powdery rubbish discovered underneath it on our property. There's an interesting thing here. I would have kept the turf and made a berm with it for planting, but when I found I could just take it up like a carpet, and saw the white powder underneath it, I became aware it was infested with the wireworm larvae.
Now there is a blank canvas in between the flower beds, waiting for some landscaping to take place. I'll use the bark mulch that was previously heaped on top of cardboard to kill the grass. It will be used for the new extensions on garden beds.
I know I'm going to need some guys with much stronger backs than mine to make those garden beds! But it's what they do! And I'll be talking my plans through with a nice garden expert, to make sure I'm on the right path, so to speak.
Another thing I really disliked about my so-called lawn were the never ending weeds. Now, the lawn itself has never been watered, because on principle I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I know no matter how brown that grass gets, it will recover once the rain comes, whenever that will happen.
The best thing is, the lawn has finally all gone, the turf dug up and cast out. You can't really use it, as it is such a carrier of wireworms, and it takes forever to compost. So it will become fill for some enterprising developer, just like the powdery rubbish discovered underneath it on our property. There's an interesting thing here. I would have kept the turf and made a berm with it for planting, but when I found I could just take it up like a carpet, and saw the white powder underneath it, I became aware it was infested with the wireworm larvae.
Now there is a blank canvas in between the flower beds, waiting for some landscaping to take place. I'll use the bark mulch that was previously heaped on top of cardboard to kill the grass. It will be used for the new extensions on garden beds.
I know I'm going to need some guys with much stronger backs than mine to make those garden beds! But it's what they do! And I'll be talking my plans through with a nice garden expert, to make sure I'm on the right path, so to speak.
Another thing I really disliked about my so-called lawn were the never ending weeds. Now, the lawn itself has never been watered, because on principle I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I know no matter how brown that grass gets, it will recover once the rain comes, whenever that will happen.
Weeds are plentiful!
weeds ready for a little puff of wind The grass is one thing - but weeds are another! Have you ever noticed how weeds thrive, even when nothing else does? The grass is brown, admittedly, but those darn weeds are lush and eye poppingly green. You don't even have to examine closely, they just jump out at you.
They have a pattern of behavior. Their entire mission in life is to reproduce themselves. They grow luxuriant leaves, then the flowers poke up. Watch it after that, because in less than a night they'll be rip roaring ready to produce seeds that will scatter away in the first puff of wind. Sometimes, just to taunt a little, when you go to pull them out, the whole plant explodes in a shower of pesky seeds, ensuring that particular weed variety multiplies a hundredfold.
Then you get the underground guys, the ones that creep silently, ruthlessly spreading a network of roots and shoots. The weeds capacity for ingenuity, and their passion for spreading seed around simply knows no bounds.
Let them get big, and you'll regret it! Those roots of theirs plunge right down to bedrock, seemingly curl around it and now they're fixed just as though they're in concrete. Pull them out with a scream of glee, and guess what? The broken root stubs will multiply.
Sometimes I think the weeds in a garden are like the worries and concerns in your mind. They come in so many forms that if you don't prune them out while they're smaller, they can overwhelm. It's best to start at the root causes, and prioritize which ones to deal with first. Once you've got a clean slate you can carry on in a new and different way.
Feel it's too much to deal with? Find a friend, or a professional' and talk it through! Just make sure the friend is a listener, not a talker!
They have a pattern of behavior. Their entire mission in life is to reproduce themselves. They grow luxuriant leaves, then the flowers poke up. Watch it after that, because in less than a night they'll be rip roaring ready to produce seeds that will scatter away in the first puff of wind. Sometimes, just to taunt a little, when you go to pull them out, the whole plant explodes in a shower of pesky seeds, ensuring that particular weed variety multiplies a hundredfold.
Then you get the underground guys, the ones that creep silently, ruthlessly spreading a network of roots and shoots. The weeds capacity for ingenuity, and their passion for spreading seed around simply knows no bounds.
Let them get big, and you'll regret it! Those roots of theirs plunge right down to bedrock, seemingly curl around it and now they're fixed just as though they're in concrete. Pull them out with a scream of glee, and guess what? The broken root stubs will multiply.
Sometimes I think the weeds in a garden are like the worries and concerns in your mind. They come in so many forms that if you don't prune them out while they're smaller, they can overwhelm. It's best to start at the root causes, and prioritize which ones to deal with first. Once you've got a clean slate you can carry on in a new and different way.
Feel it's too much to deal with? Find a friend, or a professional' and talk it through! Just make sure the friend is a listener, not a talker!
Remember the hummers?
A couple of weeks ago one of our regular contributors on this site, crazyhorseladycx wrote about her surroundings in New Mexico in a recent article titled, It Starts With A Whisper here on WarnerWords.
Crazyhorseladycx loves her part of the world. Don't get her started on the topic of weeds though! She finds they harbor other pests, like swarms of grasshoppers and caterpillars, which are the insect equivalent to weeds!
But we both appreciate nature. Hummingbirds are among the beautiful things that we both love, and connect with each day. I would love to share these amazing photos with you that she sent.
So far I haven't managed to come up with any even close to them! It's amazing to find a hummer nest, let alone one with a lady hummer sitting on her eggs.
The microscopic nest is very touching, as it's made from carefully chosen horsehair, probably from winter coat brushing that Lady loves to do for her horses.
In this area the hummers make their nest from lichen and spiderwebs. I think that's
incredibly wonderful, especially when you've only one tool to work with ~ a long sharp beak!
The little birds only lay two eggs, and one seemed to have fallen out of the nest in the wind, so we can only hope that mom gets one baby now.
Crazyhorseladycx loves her part of the world. Don't get her started on the topic of weeds though! She finds they harbor other pests, like swarms of grasshoppers and caterpillars, which are the insect equivalent to weeds!
But we both appreciate nature. Hummingbirds are among the beautiful things that we both love, and connect with each day. I would love to share these amazing photos with you that she sent.
So far I haven't managed to come up with any even close to them! It's amazing to find a hummer nest, let alone one with a lady hummer sitting on her eggs.
The microscopic nest is very touching, as it's made from carefully chosen horsehair, probably from winter coat brushing that Lady loves to do for her horses.
In this area the hummers make their nest from lichen and spiderwebs. I think that's
incredibly wonderful, especially when you've only one tool to work with ~ a long sharp beak!
The little birds only lay two eggs, and one seemed to have fallen out of the nest in the wind, so we can only hope that mom gets one baby now.
Highlights
Please take a few moments to check out these fun reads in the Weeblyhood this week!
Thanks for the visit and wishing you a beautiful and safe weekend!
Vicki
- Sharing a Melody via marcoujor's musings
- Farmacopeia: Get Smudged! via flashPress
- Give me the simple life! By Judy Wyper via WarnerWords
Thanks for the visit and wishing you a beautiful and safe weekend!
Vicki
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